​​Spread Love

On the last Sunday of every month, before and after 9:00 and 18:00 Mass, we make between 400 and 500 peanut butter sandwiches for the Sisters of Charity and Mannenberg Parish to distribute. We’re always looking for willing hands to help or donations of bread, jam and peanut butter (drop off in the foyer of the church during weekend Mass).

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Simunye (‘We are one’)

By cooking or volunteering, we become part of something bigger, building connection, dignity, and care in our community.  We create a fun and safe space for volunteers to engage with the homeless and encounter the humanity in our brothers and sisters, and in ourselves. At Simunye, we take to the streets to share a meal, play music, and bond through conversation and simply listening.

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Every Sunday we meet in the church kitchen to cook and distribute homemade meals. We interact with about 150 vulnerable people. We sell clothing at an affordable price to the community at the clothing table, based on donations we receive. We interact through active listening and providing the support needed to move to the next step in getting off the streets.  

 

Helping the Sisters of Charity

Once a month, on a Saturday we visit the Sisters of Charity in Khayelitsha to provide companionship, joy and dignity to the disabled and mentally challenged, many of whom have been abandoned by their families. We also offer practical support to the Sisters through volunteering, donations (clothing, bed linen and towels, cleaning supplies, non-perishable food items​), and maintenance tasks such as garden maintenance, building fixes, electrical work, or plumbing. We require parishioners who can offer handiwork or are comfortable interacting with disabled, mentally challenged, and abandoned patients to join us on Saturdays. Must be patient, compassionate, and respectful.

  

Justice and Peace

At St Michael’s, justice and peace is both advocacy and encounter. Discipleship calls us to stand alongside the vulnerable, listen to their stories and work together for dignity, fairness, and reconciliation, in line with Catholic social teaching. We seek to amplify the voices of those facing poverty and exclusion, advocate for fairness, and foster dialogue and care of creation. Our work is closely aligned with Archbishop Sithembele Sipuka’s motto, ‘United and Sent’. 

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We inspire and enable a keen sense of justice and peace in our parish and communities. Grounded in Catholic Social Teachings, we foster dialogue, learning circles, and social action to address poverty, strengthen social cohesion, and promote human rights.

 

Collaboration with Catholic Ministries 

The Society of St Vincent de Paul is a worldwide organisation of lay Catholics ministering to Christ through service to the poor. Out of love for God, the ministry helps everyone who is in need of assistance. In Cape Town, St Vincent de Paul supports U-turn, a structured a programme offering counselling, skills training, rehabilitation, and work opportunities to our brothers and sisters experiencing homelessness. In this way, participants are given opportunities and a helping hand to turn their lives around. Donate pre-loved clothing, bed linen and towels, cleaning supplies (detergent, soap, disinfectant, etc.) and non-perishable food items or purchase U-turn vouchers for R50 outside the parish after 9 am Mass.

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St Kizito Children’s Programme

Support community-based responses to orphans and vulnerable children, including those affected by HIV/Aids, in order to meet their physical, emotional, intellectual, psychological and spiritual needs. St Michael’s hosts an annual Christmas party every November for orphans and vulnerable children. Volunteers are encouraged to contribute a Santa shoebox for St Kizito's Christmas party, volunteer at the Christmas party, donate Easter eggs, spend mornings preparing snacks and playing games with the children.

Catholic Women’s League (CWL)

A fellowship of Catholic women united in faith under the motto ‘Charity, Work, and Loyalty’. We serve God, the Church, and our community through parish support, social welfare, and advocacy. From offering hospitality at parish events to caring for the vulnerable, the CWL embodies Gospel values in action. Together, we grow in fellowship, empower one another, and bring Christ’s love into the world.​

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This is why I love community engagement – because in cooking a meal, in listening to a story, in showing up, we feel Christ’s presence. It fills the heart more than anything we could purchase, and it empowers us to do more together.’~ St Michael’s Parishioner​